


Freedom Hangs Like Heaven

by giraffles



Series: Lights Will Guide You [2]
Category: Captain Harlock, コスモウォーリアー零 | Cosmo Warrior Zero
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Gen, I sure as hell don't know, Prequel, again what even is this au, sorta???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-26 04:52:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9863696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giraffles/pseuds/giraffles
Summary: He is quiet before breaking into a grin that has her questioning every choice that has led her to this moment. "I have some conditions."





	

**Author's Note:**

> just a short thing I've had kicking around for this au for a while, and fuck it I'm not adding anything else to it SO JUST TAKE IT

      "You want to turn yourself in?"

      "That's what I said," the faceless voice drawled, "Though it comes with conditions."

Someone in the back snapped that they shouldn't negotiate with criminals, but she raised a hand to silence them. Of course it would come with restrictions. If it was easy, then it would have been done before now. "What are the conditions?"

      "I've already faxed them over," the sheer audacity of it was astounding, "And if you violate any of my terms, there is no prison on this earth that can hold me."

Harlock's voice stayed even, but she knew that a threat lingered there. The madame president could only hope that his demands weren't too outlandish. There was a reason he was known as a ghost, a phantom wanted by most world governments, and a reason he had eluded them all for so long. And yet, to pass up an opportunity like this would be insanity. It wouldn't hurt to at least consider it, with all the good and bad that would come with it.

      "Alright. You have my attention."

 

* * *

 

Months later, she finally meets him face to face. The security detail crowding around her was a little much, considering the state-of-the-art facility, but she can appreciate the thought behind it. Dressed in incarceration gray and surrounded by steel and glass, he looks less like a myth and more like just a man. However there's something in those gold eyes that tells the madame president to be careful; as though there's a wolf hiding there, wrapped in mortal skin and far too smart for any of them. Something sinister behind messy hair and a bored expression. She choose to stand her ground, envelope of classified materials in hand, and stare the beast down.

      "I have a proposal," She held forth the documents, "If, perhaps, you're interested."

He is quiet before breaking into a grin that has her questioning every choice that has led her to this moment. "I have some conditions."

Because of course he does.

 

* * *

 

No one tells Warrius Zero exactly what his new assignment entails.

It's a risky decision for the president to make, but she would have never gotten to where she is today if she didn't know how to read a situation. He might be unhappy with it, but he'll do his job. It's the only thing she can count on. It's taken a lot of string pulling, of red tape and negotiation, to arrange this new department under her care. To convince others that it’s well worth the risk. When push comes to shove, Zero won't let her down.

Although she has second thoughts about the only information that she gave him was that it involved Harlock, especially when they lead the newly liberated agent into the room. It's not a deception. It's politics. Yet, Zero has never cared much for those kind of things, which is why he had never climbed the ranks. He may be a stickler for the rules, but he's terrible at the diplomatic games. His greatest fault is his unwavering trust in humanity. Because _he_  will always do the right thing, so it doesn't always occur to him that others _won't_ , or worse, that definitions of justice are subjective.

The madame president could only watch as Zero's expression went from shock to outrage to dangerously blank. Harlock scarcely got a word out before Zero landed a right hook on his jaw. Then there were comrades restraining him from doing any more damage, but they also seem unsurprised. She had also been afraid of something like this.

      "What the hell was _that_  for?" Came the annoyed mumble from the floor, where Harlock had been knocked prone.

      "Tabito." Zero ground out with a bitterness the president had never heard from him before. The name only sounded vaguely familiar, a city perhaps in some small country, and she couldn't place it. Whatever it was, there was history there that hadn't been mentioned in their case files.

Harlock blinked up at him before giving a small nod. "I suppose I deserved that."

A history indeed.

 

* * *

 

They are frighteningly good together.

She flipped through mission reports, each one successful, or at least satisfactory. The president should be thrilled at their results; but it's tempered by the fact that they're still so reckless, two loose canons that she decided to pair up. The risk is always calculated, always looming, and there are many who are watching like vultures waiting for her special unit to fail. She would have to take full responsibility, and be mired in the fallout. Even now, in a best case scenario, things can be a headache. Other world powers aren't always happy when they find out her elite force has been operating within their borders. They're also not pleased with the collateral damage that sometimes ensues. But, she supposes, it's worth it in the end. Their goals are achieved. Some peace is hard won.

Still, she wonders if she made the right decision. Rai says they fight all the time, and that they have an alarming disregard for protocol. Which doesn't sound at all like Zero at all, and yet all bets are off when Harlock is involved. But there's also no one better to rein him in; and, he had asked for Zero specifically, as part and parcel of his employment terms. Harlock had said it was because he trusted him, but maybe he really knew what would happen. Maybe they're all being played by the most legendary criminal alive and they just haven't realized it.

If that's what it takes, then so be it. She'll take the blame, go gracefully before the fall. Her legacy may not be perfect, but at least history can't say she didn't try, that they didn't try to make the world a better place. Being a leader, a protector, isn't without its casualties. Freedom comes with a certain price. And even then, isn't it just an elaborate illusion? Perhaps it would behoove her to keep a closer eye on her little side project.

Then again, perhaps she’s better off not knowing.


End file.
